Device for setting a direction

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a direction setting device comprising a frame ( 1 ) that carries a rotatably mounted shaft ( 2 ) which supports a first belt pulley ( 13 ) whose rotational position defines a direction to be set, wherein a rotary motor ( 71 ) carried by the frame supports a second belt pulley, and wherein an endless belt ( 14 ) extends around the first and second pulleys. A deflecting means ( 4, 41, 72 ) which functions to deflect one part ( 142 ) of the belt while the motor ( 71 ) is stationary at a set position of rotation, so as to change the effective length of the first part ( 142 ) of the belt; and further includes a resilient or springy tensioning means ( 5, 6, 16, 18 ) which functions in changing the length of the second part ( 141 ) of the belt to compensate for the change in length of the first part of the belt, thereby enabling the first pulley ( 13 ) to be turned through an angle dependent on the deflection of the first part ( 142 ) of the belt by the deflecting means.

The present invention relates to a directional alignment device or direction setting device of the kind defined in the preamble of claim 1.

There is a need to be able to bring, for instance, optical instruments into a precise position of alignment, such as to bring a laser beam into a precise position of alignment with a given subject. For example, two such laser units that have well known relative positions are able to provide accurate marking of a position with the aid of their mutually intersecting laser beams.

A first requirement is that the device is able to effect this alignment quickly. A second requirement is that the alignment can be achieved with great precision. A third requirement is that the device can be produced at low cost.

These requirements are not normally compatible with one another.

The concept of the invention is based on the use of a rotary stepping motor. Such motors a available commercially and have an angular stepping increment of about 1°. Rotary step ping motors that have finer resolutions are much more expensive. However, even if it were possible to obtain a rotary stepping motor of desired high resolution, say a resolution of 0.001°, with or without gearing, the time taken to rotate the stepping motor through one half of a revolution would be unacceptably long. However, it is possible in principle to improve the angular resolution of a rotary stepping motor, by coupling the motor to a gear or pulley transmission means. For example, the stepping motor may be fitted with a small belt pulley that is connected to a pulley which is ten times its size, by means of an endless belt, wherein the angular step or increment made by the larger pulley will be correspondingly smaller, e.g. in the order of 0.1° instead of 1°. However, as before mentioned the time taken to achieve the necessary higher angular resolutions is unacceptable.

Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a modified version of said device with which alignment or a positional setting can be effected in the correct direction with great precision and within a short space of time.

This object is achieved with the present invention.

The invention is defined in the accompanying claim 1.

Further embodiments of the invention are made apparent in the accompanying dependent claims.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention there is used a an endless belt which extends around a small circular pulley connected to a stepping motor and around a larger rotatable pulley whose position of rotation defines the direction to be set.

It is preferred that the belt is essentially incapable of being stretched, that the pulleys are rigid, that the belt is very stiff in the direction of its thickness, and that the pulleys are at a fixed distance apart. In such situations it is, of course, necessary to provide a separate resilient or springy member that will deflect and tension the first part of the belt.

The belt is placed around the pulleys with a pre-determined amount of slack. This slack is taken up by deflection of the first part of the belt between the pulleys by means of resilient tensioning means, so as to keep the belt tensioned, i.e. so as to eliminate the slack. The second part of the belt is deflected by means of a displacement body with associated drive means. The stepping motor lies fixed at a increment of rotation, so that the small pulley will lie fixed and so that the belt will be fixed relative to the small pulley. As the length of the second part of the belt increases in response to an increase in its the deflection, the larger belt pulley is forced to rotate to a corresponding degree. However, because the length of the first part of the belt will decrease, it is necessary to make compensation at said first belt part. This compensation is achieved by deforming the spring, so as reduce the extent of the deflection of the first belt part. As before mentioned, this will result in rotation of the larger belt pulley through a correspondingly small angle from a rough setting position or position of alignment set by the stepping motor.

In respect of the second part of the belt, the maximum deflection is conveniently chosen so as to correspond to one increment of angular rotation established by one step of the stepping motor. For example, deflection of the second part of the belt can be achieved with the aid of an eccentric that can rotate through one half of a revolution, for instance by means of a rotatable stepping motor, which may be of the same design as the stepping motor connected to the small belt pulley. The eccentric may carry a peripheral ring in the form of a ball bearing, so that rotation of the eccentric will not result in length displacement of said belt part.

For example, it is possible to achieve with practical embodiments of the invention that include a primary stepping motor which provides a stepping length or increment of 1° a stepping length of 0.1° in respect of the larger belt pulley via said transmission, wherewith deflection of the first belt part by means of the eccentric results in a directional precision of e.g. 0.001° in respect of said larger pulley It will be seen that the fine adjustment afforded by the eccentric in the illustrated case extends the time taken to achieve this directional setting via the belt and the belt pulleys by 10% (about 1:10).

It is also conceivable, however, to use a belt that can be stretched elastically in its length direction, or a belt that can be compressed elastically in its thickness direction against the belt pulleys, or to allow the frame of the device to yield elastically so as to enable the distance between the pulley shafts to be varied in accordance with belt tension, or for the pulleys to be deformable elastically in a radial direction. Such elastic deformation options could provide a function corresponding to the function afforded by said resilient or springy deflecting element in respect of the first part of the belt. These options can therefore be considered as technical equivalents to a separate spring-biased deflecting element with regard to the first part of the belt when the belt cannot be stretched and the device is rigid in other respects.

Naturally, technically equivalent devices such as chains, chain pulleys, lines and line pulleys can also be used in the place of belts and belt pulleys. It will be understood, however, that reference to belts and belt pulleys shall include such alternatives within the scope of the present invention.

As will be understood, it is possible to use other types of motor than a stepping motor, such as DC-rotary motors for instance, with or without gears. In this regard it is possible, e.g., to create a characteristic for the type of motor concerned so that a relationship can be established between an operating parameter, for instance activation time, and angle of rotation, thereby enabling a direction to be set roughly and then finely via said operating time parameter in accordance with the principles of the invention. However, an angle sensor is normally connected to the direction indicating axis of the device. Such angle sensors are available commercially relatively cheaply and have a high resolution, therewith enabling the angle sensor to be used to show that the rough adjustment has been carried out within pre-determined limit values. It is possible to collect an output signal from the sensor so that it can be used together with the desired direction to be set and therewith obtain the most precise rough alignment or directional setting of the device possible with respect to the motor and then the most precise fine setting or alignment of the device with respect to the properties of the motor concerned. A control computer for setting the device in a desired direction can receive a reference signal from the angle sensor. The control computer may, of course, include standard computing elements which function to send appropriate control signals to the motors on the basis of an inputted desired direction of said device.

It may be possible to exclude the angle sensor when using stepping motors, since hopefully there will be found a strict relationship between the number of drive pulses (and driving direction) for respective motors on the one and the set, direction on the other hand. Naturally, the direction indicating element may carry a sensor that detects a target in a specific absolute direction or position relative to the position of the device so as enable the device and its angle sensor to be readily calibrated.

The invention will now be defined by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the inventive device, and

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken on the line II-II in FIG. 1.

The device comprises a frame plate 1 that carries a rotary stepping motor (71) whose shaft supports a first belt pulley 12. The plate 1 also carries a bearing housing 3 which houses two separate bearings 9 for a shaft 2 which, in turn, supports a larger second pulley 13 whose diameter can be ten times larger than the diameter of the first pulley 12. A belt 14 extends around the pulleys 12, 13. The length of the belt 14 is slightly greater than the shortest belt path around the pulleys 12, 13. A first part 141 of the belt is deflected in the plane of a tensioning roller 6 which is carried by a pivotal arm 5 pivotally mounted on a pivot shaft 16 at a distance from the roller 6 along the first part of the belt 141. A tensioning spring 18 tensions the arm 5 and thus biases the roller 6 against the belt part 141, therewith holding the endless belt 14 in tension. The second part 142 of the belt 14 runs in contact with a ball bearing 41 mounted on an eccentric 4 carried by a rotary stepping motor. The eccentric 4 is designed to provide varying deflection of the second part 142 of the belt. The belt 14 is a toothed belt and the pulleys 12, 13 are preferably toothed pulleys. The spacing between the pulleys is essentially constant. The shaft 2 of the pulley 13 carries an attachment 15 for accommodation of a laser unit whose direction shall be set. The shaft 2 is coupled to an angle sensor 8 which reads-off the angle of rotation of the shaft 2, i.e. the direction of the attachment 15.

The attachment 15 can be turned through a chosen angle, by driving the stepping motor 71 with a specific number of drive pulses so as to impart a corresponding angle of rotation to the pulley 12, this angle being translated by the transmission means 12, 13, 14 to the angle through which the pulley 13 and thus also the shaft 2 and the attachment 15 shall be rotated. When the stepping motor has a stepping length or increment of 1° and the transmission means has a transmission ratio of 1:10, the pulley 13 can be caused to rotate through an angle of precisely 0.1°. The eccentric is designed to produce between its end positions a deflection of the belt part 142 that corresponds to rotation of the pulley 13 through and angle of 0.1°, i.e. through an angle corresponding to a pulley stepping increment as driven by the stepping motor 71. If the eccentric 4 is rotated by a further stepping motor 72 that also has a stepping increment of 1°, rotation of the eccentric through 180° will correspond to 180 increments. This means that each step of the motor 72 will correspond essentially to rotation of the belt pulley 13 through an angle of 0.1°:180, i.e. the pulley 13 and therewith the attachment 15 will obtain on average a setting accuracy in excess of 1.001°.

When the stepping motor 71 can be driven in both directions, a maximum rotation of five full revolutions will be required of the motor 71 in order to achieve a rough directional setting. A fine directional adjustment with the aid of the eccentric 4 will then require one half of a revolution of the of the stepping motor 72. The time taken to improve the setting precision of the stepping motor by a factor of 10 via the transmission means 12, 13, 14 need only be increased by 10 percent in order to achieve an increase in directional precision by a factor in excess of 100, i.e. a directional precision greater than 0.001°.

Deflection of the part 142 of the belt by means of the eccentric results in an increase in the length of said belt part. This increase is compensated for by decreasing the length of the part 141 of the belt, which is effected by displacement of the tensioning roller 6 while deforming the spring 18, therewith allowing the pulley to rotate. This ability of the pulley 13 to rotate while the pulley 12 is stationary and firmly holds the adjacent part of the belt, continues suitably to an angle of rotation corresponding to that produced by one rotational increment of the stepping motor 71. 

1. A direction setting device comprising a frame (1) that carries a rotatably mounted shaft (2) which supports a first belt pulley (13) whose rotational position defines a direction to be set, wherein a rotary motor (71) carried by the frame supports a second belt pulley, and wherein an endless belt (14) extends around the first and second pulleys, characterised by a deflecting means (4, 41, 72) which functions to deflect one part (142) of the belt while the motor (71) is stationary at a set position of rotation, so as to change the effective length of the first part (142) of the belt; and by a resilient or springy tensioning means (5, 6, 16, 18) which functions in changing the length of the second part (141) of the belt to compensate for the change in length of the first part of the belt, thereby enabling the first pulley (13) to be turned through an angle dependent on the deflection of the first part (142) of the belt by the deflecting means.
 2. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that the belt is essentially non-stretchable and in that the tensioning means includes a spring (18) actuated tensioning body (6) which acts against the second part (141) of the belt essentially in its cross direction.
 3. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that the tensioning means is elastically yieldable to the belt (14) in its thickness direction, is elastically yieldable to the belt (14) in its longitudinal direction, is elastically yieldable to one of the pulleys (12, 13) in its radial direction, and is elastically yieldable with regard to the distance between the rotation shafts of the pulleys (12, 13).
 4. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that the belt is a toothed belt and in that one of the pulleys (12, 13) is a toothed pulley.
 5. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that the deflecting means includes a rotatably driven eccentric (4, 41).
 6. A device according to claim 5, characterised in that the drive which rotates the eccentric is a rotary stepping motor.
 7. A device according to claim 5, characterised in that the peripheral surface of the eccentric is formed by a rotatably mounted ring rotatably carried by the eccentric.
 8. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that the deflecting means is adapted to afford rotation of the first pulley through an angle corresponding to the rotational increment angle of the stepping motor (71) driving the second pulley (12).
 9. A device according to claim 8, characterised in that at least one of the motors is a rotary stepping motor.
 10. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that an angle sensor (8) is coupled to the shaft (2) of the first pulley.
 11. A device according to claim 10, characterised by a control computer adapted to control the rough setting motor to within a chosen trial setting tolerance and to control the fine setting motor to within a chosen fine setting tolerance.
 12. A device according to claim 11, characterised in that the angle sensor (8) is adapted to send a control signal to the control computer; and in that said control computer includes means for inputting a desired direction in respect of said device. 